Zumbo "gets it" and comes in from the cold

That large popping sound that rang out throughout the country recently? You might have heard it, it was the sound of Jim Zumbo's head popping out out of his ass! As you might remember, Zumbo really stepped in the stinky stuff a few weekends ago, calling for the banning of "scary black rifles" from the hunting woods and fields. He was thrashed severely, (and rightly so) in the woodshed of the internet over just one weekend and lost his job with Outdoor Life and many of his equipment sponsors.

Well, Zumbo has been schooled over the past couple weeks on the numbers and types of owners of rifles that don't fit his walnut and deep-blued steel paradigm. And he understands the damage to the complete gun community that his hastily worded blog post caused. He has seen the light and is diligently working to make amends. Read his letter to the chairman of Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.

I was wrong when I recently suggested that wildlife agencies should ban semiautomatic firearms I erroneously called “assault rifles” for hunting. I insulted legions of my fellow gun owners in the process by calling them “terrorist rifles.” I can never apologize enough for having worn blinders when I should have been wearing bifocals.

But unlike those who would destroy the Second Amendment right to own a firearm – any firearm – I have learned from my embarrassing mistake. My error should not be used, as it has been in recent days by our common enemies, in an effort to dangerously erode our right to keep and bear arms.

There's more, and I believe him. read the whole thing. I believe he will be a valuable ally in our fight to keep the politician's hands off our guns.

It seems my political activism knows no bounds!

The Ogden Standard-Examiner published my letter to the editor! I was very pleased to see a letter supportive of more, not less concealed carry in community areas, sharing the same editorial page today.

It only took 13 days from send to printed, which says something about just one thing that's wrong with mainstream media these days. But- I got my opinion expressed and out there into the public arena.

Its going to be a long, lonely week-

Kenny's out of town, visiting his mom in California. Loc is TDY to stormy Georgia. Terry's Possumblog is on civic duty hiatus while he performs jury callup service. Melissa's cramming for finals this week and so is Karen.

All my friends are busier than me! Maybe I'll get some work done this week...

And why the heck haven't I ever been called for jury duty? I've had the same address for 7+ years, I'm in the phone book and I register and vote. I can't tell if I'm bragging or complaining, I'm just sayin is all.

So long for now-

Last night was the final night of the Foursite Film Festival here in Ogden. Sadly, I was too worn out and my back was hurting too much to attend the final night festivities so I didn't get to thank Scott Halford, the executive director, Jim Henderson, the organizer and Ryan Pearce, the PR guy for inviting me to their show.

This film festival was really a well run event and it seemed to have films for everyone's interest. I would really have liked to get to some of the documentaries on Saturday and I was really sorry to miss last night's premier of Blind Dating. I did get to see 3 nights of great films and I had a great time with all of them.

I'll be looking forward to seeing the festival come back to Ogden next year and wish the best of fortunes to the great group of folks that work very hard to put it together.

In other local news, I got to stay home today and rest up from all the week's prior activities. I've changed out the strings on my latest guitar and spent a couple good hours practicing. I ground 6 pounds of coffee beans into individually sized packets for the coffee machine at work and generally took it easy today.

Now there's laundry to fold and maybe more practice before bedtime!

FourSite Film Festival update

Opening night of the festival was a packed house at Ogden's Egyptian Theater and Carol has written a fine post about the feature show Pirates of the Great Salt Lake. I can't improve on what she has already written so make sure to check out her review. I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed Pirates. Its entertaining and funny and played with such earnestness in spite of its silly premise that it really made me laugh. Watching these two nefarious pirates sailing the high seas of the "Great Salt Sea" in just 2 or 3 feet of water, walking the plank off of their rowboat and falling into the mud and racing across 300 yards of beach to try to rob food from a woman only to happy to serve them a plateful was just funny.

It was also very fun to watch a film that was made right here in my neighborhood. If you can manage a chance to see Pirates you will get a great introduction to the scenery here in Utah that I like so much. I also couln't help enjoying how much fun this motley cast and crew must have entertained in the making of the movie. While they play it completely straight, it was obvious to me that it must have been lots of fun to make this film. I have to say that the BSU did not love Pirates very much but she has had a broken funny bone forever and so her opinions about what's funny are pretty skewed. She's not one to love a movie that revels in its silliness or absurdity and that's too bad for her.

Last night's movie was the world premier of The Mini. The crowd was (much) smaller than opening night and some of the reduced attendance needs to be blamed on the weather and traffic conditions because it was very ferocious outside all evening. But it was a world premier and I was determined not to miss it, even if the BSU opted to stay at home and Carol chose the wiser option of avoiding the lousy driving conditions.

The Mini's a terrific story of living with perenial low expectations. The hero, Fran is frustrated by his job- he's restricted to just selling futons in the mattress store where he works and resents Stan the manager's preferential treatment of the only other employee, creepy Rick Boushard, Fran's nemesis since high school. When Stan announces that the winner of the local mini-marathon will get the assistant manager position in the mattress store, Fran goes to work, enlisting his best friend Dale's help to train for the big race. In the mean time he is dealing with a broken down junk car, a budding romance with Carmen and continual difficulty keeping AM and PM straight on his bedside alarm clock.

Hijinks, high drama and bowling ensue. And because this is a feel-good movie, in the end Fran perseveres to get the race win, with help from his many-years-departed Dad, the hot girl and a much better job than he imagined possible. Stan and Rick get their just rewards and Dale learns to drive.

This is a terrific film! I really loved it and I wish the entire cast and crew, most of whom served in multiple aspects of making the film a multi-screen release in the near future. This movie deserves to be seen by many more folks than will attend the festivals where it might be shown. Right now some of the music score is pending usage contracts but once that circumstance is complete I expect, and the crew is hoping, to see this released at the local cineplex. If it comes to your neighborhood, go see it. It’s a great story.

Tonight- extreme snowboarding films!

The Thursday Three from Down Under

Today's questions came from a Possumblog regular that hails from the other end of the planet. Here's the questions and my responses.

1) Here, it is the first day of autumn - Wednesday 1st of March. However, in some parts of the world, the new seasons do not arrive until the 19th of the month, or later; due to large cattle breeds called solstices and equinoxes that issue huge amounts of methane, which increases global warming and makes the seasons run late. Question: what is your favourite season, and why?

Favorite season? Hmm. Winter, with its related snow and trips to go skiing, could it be my favorite? Maybe but winter also brings early darkness and generally limited time outdoors. Spring? Is it a better season? Somehow spring means excess amounts of yardwork- raking up al the leaves left over from fall and the piles of dog poop that has collected throughout the winter. There's always busted sprinkler lines to fix which means digging in the mud and making repairs while working on my knees. All that fixup-cleanup in the spring means a sore back to me even if I don't undertake some new landscaping project. What about fall then, could it be my favorite season? It is pretty with the color changes in the lanscaping and flora and its pleasant to be outside because summer's extreme heat is gone leaving really pleasant temperatures. Until it turns wet and cold and I have to put the scooter away until spring returns. So that just leaves summer, and I guess on the whole, its my favorite season. The temperature is cool in the mornings and hot before lunch and daylight seems to last until bedtime so there seems to be enough time to get everything done. The spring homeowner chores are mostly done and just the routine watering and mowing of the grass is usually required. Its good scooter or motorcycle riding time and it’s a perfect time for going to the desert for shooting fun. There seems to be enough time to sit in the shade and read a book just for fun as well. So I guess summer might have to be my favorite season. Ask me tomorrow, maybe my answer will change!

2) When you started your weblog, did you deliberate over whether to choose a nom-de-blog or use your real identity? What swayed you either way?

I never even gave any thought to blogging anonomously. I figured that I have an opinion and a forum and I'm not afraid of putting my name on my opinions and attitudes. My spousal unit believes that I tell too much personal information on this little bit of cyberspace- see repeated references to my pending colo-rectal surgery but that hasn't ever been a problem. Its part of my life and that's what I'm sharing here, my opinions and my life.

3) Discussing religion, politics or sex has always been impolite at cocktail parties, because of the risk of embarrassing face-to-face arguments. However, this is not a cocktail party, but a blog. And since the whole point of a blog is to have robust discussions, make a comment on the first thing that comes to your mind about religion, politics or sex. Pour yourself a martini first, if it helps. Don't forget the olive.

First, no martini thanks. Most any other libation- yes please. Bring two! I'm with Terry concerning my positions on religion, politics and sex; my positions have changed over the years on each subject. Two political opinions that have been floating through my cranium for a couple weeks are these: 1) I think that there should be no campaigning allowed until 6 months prior to any election. None. Primaries begin at 5 months out from election day so candidates get just one month to announce, fund raise and campaign before primaries. Early starting results in disqualification. 2) I think that if you are an elected official and you announce your candidacy for another position, you must also announce the immediate surrender of the position you were elected to. I cannot believe that any current candidate for an election that is 21 months away is honestly representing their constituents. If I were one of those persons that voted for an already announced candidate, I would feel mighty ripped off and I might feel that my senator or congressperson really didn't have my best interest at heart. Finally, John McCain will never be my candidate until he repeals McCain-Feingold laws!

The answer is "Strongly Disagree"-

to all the questions on the Brady Campaign Legislative Priorities survey. Here's question #1-

Since the expiration of the federal Assault Weapons Ban two years ago, there has been a significant rise in violent crime and homicides. How strongly do you agree with this statement: Passing an assault weapons ban must be one of the top domestic safety priorities of the 110th Congress.

The answer is "Strongly Disagree". The answer is the same for the rest of the questions. Now get over there and let them know how you feel about their gun-stealing, anti-American, plans.

Thanks goes to Gunner at
No Quarters for pointing this one out.

No new restrictions on concealed weapons permits at universities

This is good news for firearms rights advocates in Utah. This is the bill that I have been writing my representatives every other day to get defeated. It didn't get defeated but it did get almost all of the overly restrictive aspects of the university's desires negotiated out.

Concealed weapons won't face any new restrictions on university campuses in Utah, although students can now request not to live with permit holders.

A bill that passed in the waning hours of this year's legislative session ended up as a watered down version of an original bill that would have prohibited concealed weapons in certain faculty offices.

Very good news and good work from the final hours of this year's legislative session.

Probably planned this caper at a Mensa meeting

FBI: Men on Train Had $700,000 in Stolen Bonds from Sparks.

The men were ejected from the train in Helper, Utah, on February 19th after they were suspected of smoking marijuana. With help from a drug-sniffing dog, police found the bonds in a travel bag.

Hmm, smoking dope on Amtrak- what a way to avoid notoriety...
Dumbasses!

26 March, 2007

That's the last Tuesday of next month. That's plenty of time to get your get well cards picked out and mailed along with wonderous selections of gift baskets filled with boxes of ammo for springtime shooting adventures- after I heal from my surgery.

That's the plan and the day for my colo-rectal surgery. The Doc says I need to plan on a week off from work.

For those of you shopping- 7.62X39, 9mm or .223 would be great. Bulk 22LR is always an appropriate gift!

Foursite Film Festival Starts Tomorrow Night!

I have to admit that I'm getting pretty excited about attending the Foursite Film Festival, beginning tomorrow night in downtown Ogden. This looks like it will be a fun few days, (and late nights) watching some unique, independent films.

Tomorrow night's feature is Pirates of the Great Salt Lake. From the website, it looks like a fun show. Another night there's high adventure, outdoor sports films and later, some adult themed films grouped together in a block called Rated Arrr!

This is going to be fun!

Its Tuesday, right?

Time for a Ticked Off Tuesday post!

So yesterday I finally received the Cost Share Agreement document that I have been waiting 3 weeks for. This document is a signed agreement by 5 European countries to pay their portion of a 36,000 dollar bill for the completion of some Technical Order updates. There is already a Delivery Order for Lockheed Martin to do the work, but they underbid and the countries needed to pony up the shortfall. No problem, right?

Now this document that I received is filled up with long lines of groups of numbers that spell out the exact account and billing line that is to be used by each country. And one country changed just one line- meaning my task just jumped from simply delivering the document to the Contracting Officer to creating a new Purchase Request to be applied to the existing Delivery Order. Damm! But creating Purchase Requests has recently become much easier due to implementation of the Comprehensive Cost and Requirements System which allows me to fill in the form by looking at the actual form, so this shouldn't be too much trouble. This is a huge improvement over the old Automated Business Services System which uses fields in a database form to populate the correct portions of the form, which you can't see until the process is nearly done. The new system is great; fast, visual and logical and a real improvement over ABSS.

But the EPAF country funding people and systems aren't included in the new system! I have to struggle through the old, clunky system, after figuring out whatever my password might have been the last time I used the program. And after I verify that the one country that changed their billing code couldn't be persuaded to adjust back to the original codes. What a pain!

Another fine week-

Skiing today, in a blinding snowstorm and it was wonderful. I didn't stay all day and that was probably a good thing because the road coming down was already snow covered and sloppy. Waiting until the crowd was all trying to get down would have only made the trip really ugly.

Coming home early had another unplanned effect, a trip to the urgent care for the spouse. She finally decided that the pain in her head was in fact a sinus infection and the Doc agreed and offered up a script for some antibiotics. So, we had a trip to the Doc-in-a-box and Wal-Mart for the pharmacy fill-up.

Saturday I skipped going skiing under bluebird skies just becasue I didn't feel like driving up by myself. I've got to find another ski buddy! Not a lost day though because I got more work done on the motorcycle and several hours of practice on my guitar.

The Suzuki is just about back together. I had to order a used tail section from Ebay and lucky for me, it was the right one for the motorcycle and a much better fit than the broken one that came on the bike. It even matches the color of the gas tank though both could really stand a re-paint. I've not decided, or committed to repainting the bike but perhaps when it warms up I'll get motivated to make it all one color. I did fix a broken tab on one of the sidecovers with a bit of built up plastic that I think will be a good fix. I am really pleased with how the bike is looking already and I'm getting excited about getting it cranked up so I can ensure that everything runs properly before riding season hits.

The spouse and I also snuck out for an early movie, Reno 911- Miami. What a stinker! I really wanted to like this movie and it did have a (very) few yucks but overall, its not funny and not worthy of popcorn money. I wish there was more to say about this film but I was disappointed and thought this was one that should have gone straight to DVD.

So, a nice weekend. Little drama and much relaxing and there's a cat sleeping on my lap tonight while I blog. Just about perfect.

Survived today's scoping-

and there's pictures, full color pictures from my colonoscopy! But you can't see them. That would be just a little too much, don't ya think? Anyway, today's exam went very well. The clinic was efficient and professional and friendly and they took good care of me.

The Doc was pleased with today's results. I'll be getting a date for my surgery sometime the week after next and fortunately, I'll be getting the "easier" method of repair done and so will be looking at a much shorter recovery time. That makes me very happy.

The sedative meds the Doc gave me have really kicked my butt this afternoon and as soon as I got home I had a 4 hour nap. Since I woke from the nap I've been esconced on the recliner chair. Its almost 10 PM and I'm finally feeling wide awake again!

At any rate, the Doc is pleased with the outcome of today's exam and optimistic about a full recovery when its time for the actual surgery. Good news all around!

Its gonna be a long, cranky day-

Nothing but a clear liquid diet for me today... Its time for my 9am cinammon roll break and I can't have it. I didn't have my usual peanut butter toast for breakfast and I have nothing to look forward to for lunch and dinner except for broth.

Its gonna be a long, cranky day-

I hope I make it with enough humor left to go to guitar class tonight!

Its time for a "Zumbo Effect"- Dump the AWB!

First, what's a "Zumbo Effect'? Tom Gresham has coined the term for the internet circumstance that effectively put Jim Zumbo out in the cold after his ill-advised rant against "scary, black rifles" this past weekend. If you read my previous post, Dump Zumbo, you are aware of the circumstances that all occurred over this past, three-day weekend.

Gresham's point is this, if we gunowners can pull together over one weekend to make our feelings known about someone trying to divide us into "good" gun owners and "bad" gun owners, how do we turn the same amount of effort into persuading our elected officials to deny further attempts to ban our guns through legislation?

If you don't know, the Clinton era, Assault Weapons Ban legislation is back for review in the US Congress. The nearly same gun ban that complicated all our lives, drove up prices of accessories and eventually proved completely futile is back under consideration. If you remember, the prior AWB made owning, selling and buying certain semi-automatic guns illegal simply because of their appearances. Folding stocks, pistol grips, detachable magazines and flash hiders were just some of the features that made these guns banned.

Now this ban is back in play and our Congress critters are going to spend time debating whether it should be a law again. Gresham says that we gunowners need to use the same volume of energy that grounded Jim Zumbo over one weekend to kill further debate on this Assault Weapons Ban and to let our elected officials know that we won't tolerate this obvious attempt to take away our guns, no matter what the type.

How often over the last 30 years, as I fought for gun rights, traveled to Washington, DC, wrote about gun rights, spoke at the Gun Rights Policy Conference, and for the last 14 years, broadcasted about gun rights on the radio, have I lamented the inability to get gun owners motivated to protect their own rights? This powerful example shows that it can be done.

Now, the real question is whether we can generate that kind of response when we need to defeat a gun ban. Can we melt down mail servers of elected representatives the way gun owners hammered the servers at various companies? I don't know.

What I do know is that we are facing more calls for gun bans and restrictions on our gun rights over the next few years than we have seen in the last 40 years. Someone on the side of gun rights needs to develop a way to replicate this . . . this "Zumbo Effect" . . . to beat back the assault which has already started.

We must find a way to "Zumbo" our attackers in Congress, in the state houses, and wherever they assault our rights.

You know that I agree with him, 100%!

Expect that I will be blogging about every effort to kill this bad bit of legislation every chance I get!

UPDATE: Here is another article that tells more about the Zumbo situation and encourages the same amount of effort be applied to Congress. There's no permalink, so read it before it rolls off the front page. Read this post about Zumbo's quickly fading sponsors and memorize this wonderful ending sentence-

And Jim Zumbo ... May you lie happily ever after in the arms of Sarah Brady, you ignorant, elitist, traitorous, backstabbing scum. Maybe she'll sponsor your program or publish your column now that the whole world knows you're on her side.

You can be Jackson Pollock!

My dad sent me this link tonight and its too cool not to share. Create your own original art! Each time you click the mouse, you get a new color so try it out!

Trolley Square one week later

I've not said anything more about last week's tragedy at Trolley Square but like everyone in Utah this week, I've paid attention, read and watched the news and agonized and grieved for the families that lost loved ones during the shootings. The police officers have been properly recognized for their heroic efforts including Ogden's officer, Ken Hammond.

This entire story has been very painful for everyone here. The community held a service that was attended by hundreds, one night last week and the memorial and funeral services for the deceased victims have made all the tv news programs. The family's pain and suffering has been very clear for all to see.

There's been no obvious reason for Sulejman Talovic, the 18 year old killer to have gone on his rampage, at least none that the officials are telling. They have said that he didn't own a computer or a video game console so the misplaced shooter-game-turned-real doesn't seem to have been a factor. The guy worked his full shift at his job that day, went home, showered and headed out to Trolley Square.

The news reporters have all done on-scene reports from the local gun stores where, according to the news cubs, interest in handguns for protection has risen dramatically this week, along with Concealed Firearm Permit class applications. How many citizens actually become licensed to carry a gun and do so as a result of last weeks's shooting remains to be seen but certainly there will be some new citizens carrying weapons in the future.

This has been a significant event for those of us in Utah, just as Columbine affected the citizens of Colorado and the Nickel Mine Amish schoolhouse killings affected the citizens of Pennsylvania. We all hurt and those of us that survive find a way to keep on going and growing through life. You can see a roundup of many of the stories about Trolley Square and see how our state has dealt with this crisis.

Jay Leno's Garage- what a place!

Warning- this is pretty much a "guy stuff" post. If you're estrogen powered, you might not get the coolness of this post.

Ok, if you haven't checked out Jay Leno's garage online, you are really missing some great guy stuff. Jay's garage, is packed full of video articles about all the very cool motorized stuff that Jay has collected through the years and he has collected some remarkable stuff. He has a 2-seater roadster powered by a tank engine, a 1000 horsepower 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado, a 1932 Duesenburg SJ and a jet powered motorcycle. They are all on display at Jay's Garage.

Jay really likes big stuff and recently he has added some really big stuff to his garage. He's got a plan to take his garage off the California power grid and produce his own electricity using a steam powered generator built in 1870! This story is still developing and the generator isn't put back together just yet but what a piece of equipment it is. Check it out and cruise through all of the great stuff at Jay's Garage.

I'm adding a link to my sidebar to remind me to keep up with all the going's on.

Dump Zumbo!

There has been a major kerfluffle this weekend about comments made by Jim Zumbo at his Outdoor Life blog. Zumbo, if you don't know is a gun and hunting writer of 42 years experience. This weekend he really showed his true colors and exposed himself as a gun lover, if its the right kind of gun... If you haven't seen or heard about his lack of understanding of rifle ownership means in America, you can go read his first post concerning AR-type rifles and how he calls them "terrorist guns." You can also see Outdoor Life's official statement and his mea culpa, puny apology.[NOTE: Tonight, Outdoor Life has pulled Zumbo's blog, so the links are no good partially fixed. Thank heavens for Google cache! I'mstill trying to find the cach of his apology.]

If you feel like Zumbo's first statement reflects his real, divisive opinion regarding guns that are ok for sportsmen and those that aren't ok for citizens and hunters of any type to own or shoot, you can sign an online petition calling for the sponsors of Outdoor Life to retract their support, here at Dump Zumbo. Remington, to their credit, has already severed their ties to this obnoxious, elitist, jackasss.

I don't care what type of "scary, black rifles should be banned" context anyone tries to put on this situation, Zumbo and his head-in-the-sand, uninformed attitude is very bad for the firearms owners and shooters of any type in this country. This idea, laid out in public, by a member of the shooting press does no good to lawful gunowners and you can be sure that the Brady Bunch, anti-gun community will try to take advantage of his foolish words.

You know I've signed the petition. I hope there is a writing position open at Outdoor Life magazine in the immediate future and that their management will see clear to hire a more informed and unbiased writer to fill the position. I don't have a scary-black rifle in my locker since I sold my CETME 308 a couple years ago. I have been thinking that maybe its time to add an AR-type rifle to my locker and Zumbo's remarks may be just the impetus I need to buy or build one of my own. BAG day is April 15th again this year so maybe I need to put one on lay-a-way someplace!

Zumbo earns a dumbass award this week!

Read what Tamara has to say on the same topic. She has several additional links worth following on the subject of this 2 faced bastard.

Weekend pictures

Saturday was a glorious day at Powder Mountain, with so much sun that I had to spring for a fresh tube of sunscreen from the ski shop. But the bright sunshine and warm temperatures brought huge crowds of skiers to the mountain and made possible some decent photos from my cell phone. Here's where I spent my Saturday-


Here's another picture-


Finally, back at home after dinner, I had some snoozing company before bedtime.

You can stop looking now-

I found my cables.

Has anybody seen my iPod cables?

I've misplaced everything but the car charger and my ear buds. Meaning I can't update my iPod with more music... Grr! I would say that I've looked everywhere, but that would obviously be a lie, since I haven't found the place I left them.

Must keep looking-

Medical update-

Well after last week's post about my colonoscopy results, today I had my first visit with the colo-rectal surgeon. A pretty nice visit and I got to keep my pants on the entire time. Today was just a discussion about the lesion that's living in my gut, why its a bad thing and why it should be removed sooner rather than later. Right now, I don't have any cancer but this lesion isn't a good thing to keep living up there in the dark.

So, I have a another appointment next Friday and for that my pants will be coming off. I'll be getting an exam and then the Doc can decide if the removal surgery will be accomplished through my rectum, (rectum? Damm near killed him!) or if he does a laproscopic surgery. With the first possibility, he told me to expect to be off work for a week. Option 2, the laproscopic surgery will require 2 to 4 weeks of recovery! Yikes!

I really don't want to be off work that much! I'll just have to see how things go and plan on getting in as much guitar practice as I can stand during the recovery period.

Best response ever!

Gunner over at No Quarters had a moment to visit the website of the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives department of our federal government's website. Go see his response to the survey question What would you like to see on this website? Its the best possible response.

Well said Gunner! Maybe we all should follow his lead.

Off-Duty Officer First to Engage Trolley Square Shooter

It has been confirmed- an off-duty police officer from Ogden, a citizen with a Concealed Firearm Permit, in other words, was the individual that halted the gunman at Trolley Square last night. He was on an early Valentines Day date with his spouse when the gunfire erupted and was first on the scene to halt the 18 year old gunman.

Read my prior post and see the related link from last night here.

I'm a political activist today!

That's right, in response from the Utah Shooting Sports Council's call for URGENT ACTION, I took some action this morning. Here's what showed up in my email last night-

BACKGROUND ON SB 251 (HIGHER EDUCATION FIREARMS RESTRICTIONS)

SB 251 is now in the Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee. Members are listed below, and only one or two seem to support your gun rights. This Committee can kill this bill entirely, or we will have to fight it for the rest of the session, so ACT TODAY! You can read the full text of the bill here.

In a nutshell, the University of Utah, having already lost their case in the Utah Supreme Court, to ban legally owned and properly concealed firearms on all of their property, are now trying to push through more particular laws, restricting firearms in offices or workcenters of most any kind and supposedly installing security lockers for gun storage when an armed person needs to enter one of these designated, "gun-free" zones. There's lots more involved, including routine inspections of students that have concealed firearms permits to ensure they are not armed and segregation and banning of licensed gun carriers in the dormitories.

So, I wrote this letter:

Dear Senator Bell, Hillyard, Madsen, McCoy, Romero & Valentine,

Sirs, I urge each of you to vote AGAINST SB 251 (Higher Education Concealed Firearms Restrictions).

In light of last night’s tragedy at Trolley Square, and the report that it was an off-duty Ogden police officer that halted the young criminal’s destructive killing episode, I must ask you to vote against SB251. Last night’s tragedy only reinforces the fact that criminals can appear anywhere- at the mall or at the university, without warning and without time to summon law enforcement. In a moment of terror and destruction such as this, only the ability to defend oneself through legal firearms carry can provide any semblance of security to self or family. An off duty police officer is nothing more than an armed citizen, like any of us that have applied for and received a Concealed Firearms Permit.

Restricting law abiding permit holders makes no sense on campus or anywhere else, with minor exceptions. It has been made abundantly clear that CFP carriers are far more law abiding and take their personal obligation to act responsibility very seriously. I’ve not seen or heard, or found through research any data that says anything except that permit holders are more law abiding and less violent than the average citizen. That said, no further legislation is required and the university should be given the message that their facilities are in no danger due to legally carried firearms.

Any further imposition of discrimination against law abiding citizens at the university must be halted, exactly as it would be stopped if it were discrimination against any other group of people. Consider how quickly this discrimination would be shut down if similar plans were put in place to halt members of any minority group. It would not be tolerated and the university management would be quickly put in their place for such considerations.

If allowed to impose any restrictions at all, you can expect that the Universities will manipulate their rules to create a de facto campus-wide ban on LEGALLY carried self defense weapons.

Please defeat SB 251, and use your valuable time on bills dealing with real problems and real solutions.

Sincerely,
Nate McCord, Ogden UT

I emailed each of the senators and faxed the letter to each of them at the capital building. If I thought I could find a couple buddies to go along, I might just attend the meeting later this afternoon and show my disdain for bad laws in person. It will be interesting to watch the outcome of this bill and committee. Now, after all this activism, I need some lunch!

Foursight Film Festival time in Ogden-

Its Ogden's premier film festival! It runs 4 days, beginning at the end of this month and I've been invited to participate as part of the media! That's right, I received an email from the organizer, Jim Henderson, and he found this humble blog and my simple movie reviews and invited me to be part of the fun of what appears to be an exciting festival.

Of course I said I would love to participate, so you can expect to be reading my insightful reviews of much of the happenings at the festival. What fun!

Gunman opens fire in Salt Lake City mall!

Wow! What a bit of excitement and tragedy and horror tonight in Trolley Square Mall in downtown Salt Lake! It seems a gunman in a trenchcoat, carrying a shotgun walked in and opened fire in numerous parts of the mall. You can see KSL television's reporting on the situation here. Make sure to read the comments that were submitted. Some of them were actually submitted by people trapped in the mall!

Hard facts are still spotty so I'll post an update later. In the mean time, read some of the comments from the whining dumbasses about their television stories being disrupted- what jackasses!

UPDATE: As of 10:30 tonight, 6 are confirmed dead, including the yet unnamed gunman. This is a real tragedy.

SWAT, Police Serve Search Warrant After 10-Hour Stakeout

I've mentioned before my growing scorn over SWAT teams being activated and pulled out tof the Ops van everytime the police decide there is a situation. Here is a classic example of misplaced manpower by the West Valley PD. The SWAT team was called out and they surrounded an empty house for 10 hours while waiting for a warrant to be written, signed and delivered!

This is a stupid, stupid misuse of manpower and it left the neighborhood on edge as they watched the scary, black-clad officers put out snipers and surround the empty house. It seems to me that one patrol car or a couple plain clothes guys in an unmarked car might just as easily scoped out the house to determine if anybody was home or not while waiting for a warrant to be prepared. Finlly, if it was a "known" gang house, why had no action taken place in the past?

Just an excuse to break out the black-clad, scary walk, storm troopers for some overtime pay... Dumbasses!

Another fun-filled weekend-

Its nearly 9PM and I still don't have the laundry folded, which I suppose I'll manage after I get done with this post. Its been a busy weekend and I'm about worn out. Good thing I can go back to work tomorrow to rest up!

Lets see: Friday night was movie date night and we went to see Hannibal Rising. Its the story of Hanibal Lector's childhood and explains in a very creepy and suspenseful story, how Hannibal became the scary character in all the other stories. It was creepy. Its all about revenge. If you liked Silence of the Lambs, or Red Dragon, you owe it to yourself to go see this movie too. Surprisingly, the theater was nearly empty, which was odd for a movie at prime time on a Friday night, for a movie that opened that same night. Anyway, the spouse and I both really liked this movie and afterwards it was supper at Village Inn before heading home.

Saturday, friend Kenny came over and we made two shooting benches for future shooting trips. We cleared out a corner of the shop and built some dandy tables. We bought legs from Harbor Freight and they turned out to be a little too short, so we either need to find some supports to fit under them or a way to extend the legs. Otherwise, they turned out perfectly and I can't wait to give them a try.

Afterwards I took the spouse to her Viking Embroidery software training at Wimmers. The young fellow, Spencer was quite helpful and he covered just about all the essential steps to making personalized designs in just over an hour. It was a little distracting since all the other members of the Wimmers staff were busy moving furniture and pulling up the very-many-years old shag carpet. All that fun made it a little difficult to pay attention but we did get good help on using the software.

Saturday night we got a real treat, 2 for 1 tickets at the Grizzlies hockey game! We didn't know it was going to be half price, we just went to the game and were surprised with the discount at the ticket window. Sadly, our Grizzlies goalie got beat pretty soundly by the Long Beach Ice Dog's goalie and the final score was 6-2, Ice Dogs.

Today was another adventure, in support of a Utah State college student who isn't related to me. It seems that Noah's newest girlfriend's sister had purchased a 2nd hand piano and needed help moving it into her shared apartment. Turns out the sisters had enough money to buy a piano or a car and the piano won the toss. Noah volunteered my truck for the moving but that meant taking off the tonneau cover and I really didin't want to have to do that.

So I borrowed friend Jim's trailer and that turned out to be a really smart plan. Once we arranged the two sisters, Noah and three more college guys to do the heavy lifting, we drove up to get the piano. The seller had room enough to back the trailer into the garage so we could load up without getting everything soaked by the pouring rain and then we covered it up with a new tarp, (I bought) and headed back to the girl's apartment. We were able to disconnect the trailer and use it like a dolly to move the piano between two houses and across a soaked yard and backed the ramp right up to the front step. Perfect!

But the whole trip sure ate up all the afternoon by the time I got back to town, returned Jim's trailer and made it back home. I ground coffee for work and ran the laundry machines and read part of a new guitar book that I also found time to buy this afternoon.

Now- I'm tired! And my guitar practice has really suffered this weekend for all my other activities!

Well this is not good news-

The BSU just rang to say that the Doc at the controls of the colonoscopy borescope earlier this week called and passed along a referral to Doc #2, a colo-rectal surgeon that he insists I see, poste-haste.

[Note to self: Find that colo-rectal surgeon song music file. It must still be on one of the computers!]

UPDATE: Here's the link to the song! Click the link in the center of the page.

Anyway, surgery was mentioned by the first Doc with a possibility of having the affected system disconnected, shortened and reconnected. There is apparently no cancerous growths right now but whatever needs removed needs removed before it becomes cancerous.

As you might guess, the BSU has got her nerves all jangly and a'twitter over this announcement. So to give her something constructive to attend to, I asked her to make the appointment.

ANOTHER UPDATE: My appointment is this coming Thursday, so no more news on this sensitive subject until after that.

Hell really does freeze over!

Don't believe me? Check out the pictures from my Sister Mel's blog! Her and the clan have been trying to keep warm through that bitter cold and snow storm that has been passing through through the Midwest for several days.

Stay warm Sis!

Pentagon limits Pelosi jet size- Good!

From the Washington Times today, the report that the "ever so entitled" Speaker Pelosi will not get the free ride around the country for herself, her staff, family and hangers-on every time she decides to jet from Washington to San Francisco.

The letter from the Pentagon yesterday cites specific U.S. Code that government policy does not include the routine use of military aircraft for the speaker of the House.

"Nonstop service is not guaranteed, meaning she's getting Hastert's plane and nothing bigger," the congressional source said, referring to the commuter jet Mr. Hastert began using for security reasons after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

In addition, the letter stipulates that the Air Force will only fly her between Washington and her San Francisco district and places limits on who can travel with her.

According to the same article, "I'm entitled" Nancy requested a military flight to last week's Democratic retreat, just a 2 hour car ride from Washington DC.

Here's my take on this- Nancy, there are regularly scheduled airlines with unsold seats going wherever you and your staff want to go. Your constituents are flying coach and undergoing the TSA's finest scrutiny and indignities passing through our nation's airports, why should you be provided any special privileges? For security? If our commercial airlines aren't secure enough for you to fly, they aren't safe enough for me to fly! So fix that and we can all be safe. Your hubby is a multi-millionaire and probably owns his own corporate jet that could be pressed into your service if you insist on dumping tons of carbon into the atmosphere for you and your staff's privilege of avoiding the unwashed masses that voted for you.

So knock off the elistist bullshit Nancy and pay your own way if you want special treatment. Have as much security and comfort as you are willing to pay for and shut the hell up about not being treated like royalty just because you are the first woman Speaker.

[UPDATE] I've decided I can't leave this post alone without mentioning the Speaker's desire to halt Global Warming,

"I promise to do everything in my power to achieve energy independence ... and to stop global warming," Pelosi said.

and the contradiction pointed out by Instapundit, that even the small jet she is being provided dumps 31 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere during a 6 hour flight...

Stopping Global Warming, Nancy? Not until you dump the special flights and get on a regularly scheduled airliner like the rest of us!

As for the rest of you in Congress that are bitching about the long work hours, you can shut the hell up too! If you aren't working as many hours as your constituents, you better not be complaining. Or resign and let your position be filled by somebody not afraid of a full week's work!

Note to the Real Estate agent that visited the house last week-

Why do you suppose that I would consider doing important business like selling my house with someone not smart enough to walk up my dry driveway but instead hikes through the piled up snow in my front yard?

Its probably not going to happen...

Well I survived.

Certainly the preparation for that colonoscopy exam is muck worse than the actual exam. Last night was miserable. Trying to choke down all that Phospho-Soda was really very miserable. Ugh!

But I'm better now and the Doc found only 1 little area that he took a sample from for research pathology. Hopefully I won't be going back for a return visit for the next several years.

I've had a nap and then, because the sun is shining like spring today, I moved a bunch of snow off the camper and spread it out in the drive for the sun to melt away. I've also been out in the shop practicing my guitar lessons.

Today's weather really is a big difference from last week's. Its nearly 50 degrees outside and it feels like spring. No doubt more storms will come before spring really arrives but right now it feels like mid-March. This year's winter and snowfalls have really been disappointing and our reservoirs will not be filling up this year as they did last year, so the news guys will have plenty to comment upon this coming summer.

Blogging from the bathroom-

At least I will be shortly when the nasty prep, evil tasting toxin washed down with 7-Up kicks in later. That's right, I'm having another colonoscopy tomorrow and tonight I'm suffering through the preparations for that little procedure.

Yuch!

So far, I'm digging the Superbowl game. Lots of turnovers, bucketing down rain and 92 yard kickoff returns, good stuff!

I spent a couple hours today with my guitar, practicing. It was warm enough to use the workshop for my practice space for the first time. Kind of nice to be able to hack away without forcing my sounds on anyone else.

No movies to report on this weekend since there just didn't seem to be anything we wanted to watch. The selection of "gotta see" movies seems kind of thin for the past couple weeks.

Ugh! This damm soda phosphate stuff is nasty!

Quick Suzuki update

The gas tank's at the radiator shop for steam cleaning and resealing. It should be ready in just another day ot two. The seat with its ugly, slip fit cover has beeen taken to an upholstery shop for a new, real cover.

It took two tries to get a fabric shop for the seat. The first place wanted 4 hours or more at $55/hour plus materials and I had to beg off for that kind of cash. The second place is ran by a couple old guys that have been in business for about forever. The fellow that looked at the seat studied it for a bit, scratched his head about the non-stock, added-in bit of foam from a previous effort and how to get some new foam to replace it. Then he said he reckoned he could get it done for $85-90! I told him I would be glad to have him do the work.

I've painted more of the frame and now its really just a matter of getting all the parts back and reassembled. Then I can start seeing if the motor is going to need any further attention.

Senator Feinstein's Iraq Conflict

I saw this story earlier this week then promptly forgot to write about it. Somebody please explain to me why this is not getting much higher level attention in the MSM and Congressional Ethics committees!

As a member of the Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee, Sen. Feinstein voted for appropriations worth billions to her husband's firms.

As chairperson and ranking member of the Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee (MILCON) from 2001 through the end of 2005, Feinstein supervised the appropriation of billions of dollars a year for specific military construction projects. Two defense contractors whose interests were largely controlled by her husband, financier Richard C. Blum, benefited from decisions made by Feinstein as leader of this powerful subcommittee.

Not only was she a member of the committee setting funds to these contractors, she was repeatedly notified by council in advance, so she could recuse herself- which she didn't do!

Klein stated that, beginning in 1997, he routinely informed Feinstein about specific federal projects coming before her in which Perini had a stake. The insider information, Klein said, was intended to help the senator avoid conflicts of interest. Although Klein's startling admission was intended to defuse the issue of Feinstein's conflict of interest, it had the effect of exacerbating it.

This sounds like a story that really needs to see the light of day and be scrutinized by whatever law has juristiction. This sounds nothing like all the promises that the Democrats made about open and honest government once they were in charge.

I'm what? No Way!

It is with shy trepidation that I mention that today is the 51st anniversary of my arrival on this continually spinning orb we call earth. I wonder if all that spinning is why I'm so dizzy...

Thursday Three Time!

It's an "On the Fly" edition this morning--no time yesterday or this morning to do any sort of deep thought or induce any cleverness into the process, so here's you a slapdash, thrown-together-at-the-last-moment set of questions, guaranteed to be neither entertaining nor insightful!
Everyone is free to play along, of course, although you might not want to. But go ahead anyway just to stay in practice.

ANYWAY-

1) What is the last product you recommended to a friend?

In my case, I think the last thing I recommended to a friend wasn't a product but a service; guitar lessons, in this case, to my friend and fellow blogger, Carol. She was looking for a new opportunity for aggravation and so I invited her to join me for group guitar lessons. We did attend last Thursday and since its Thursday again, there's another lesson tonight. I'm afraid I might have steered Carol wrong with this particular music teacher and group though since I wasn't too impressed by the first episode. This instructor teaches kids almost exclusively, and her music room is cramped and overflowing with stands and instruments and sheet music. The chairs are too close together, there's no place for coats or cases and it is generally a mess. One of the kids belongs to the instructor so he knows a little more than the others and he can't be shut up from showing off his knowledge of everything in the room. Another (really) youngster sat there with his guitar on his lap, a blank look on his face and not so much as a single clue why his mother had dragged him into this house. Based upon appearances, there must be a LDS Sunday School merit badge for learning guitar at an early age. I wasn't too impressed with the first lesson but I'm paid up through February so unless it becomes too painful, I'll keep going.

2) What is your favorite section of the grocery store?

The fresh produce section is my favorite section, for the bright colors and textures of the selections. Like Terry, we don't carry home too many of those exotic veggies but they are pretty to look at. I also enjoy reading the information pages about the different fruits and veggies that are available. The base commisary where we shop has an automated cooling spray system that announces its pending wetness with recorded thunder sounds and lightning flashes of stobe lights. It’s a little unnerving the first time it happens, if you aren't aware. Now its just entertaining. I'm pretty certain they should implement recorded animal sounds above the various meat sections as well, just for fun.

3) Joe Biden--lunatic, or idiot?

Yes. Of course here at WE there is another name I apply to people like Joe, its Dumbass!

Vote for Hillary? Vote for treason-

If there is no other reason to not vote vote for Hillary as President, consider her vote against the Constitution and the 2nd Amendment and decide accordingly. When any of these 16 traitors is available for reelection, you should just vote NO!

Searchers Find Missing Out Of Town Skiers

Think skiing inbounds at a ski resort can't possibly be dangerous or cause a life threatening problem? This little story of 5 lost skiers occurred this week at Powder Mountain Ski Resort, which you all know is my favorite outdoor area. These 5, out of town visitors got turned around and ended up just 200 yards below the lowest lift that would have taken them back to the lodge and civilization.

They did survive a cold night with no fire or heat and were rescued pretty early the next morning after being located by a helicopter crew. That's the good news. The could-have-been-worse news is that they were headed downhill- down a canyon that doesn't reach civilization for more than a dozen miles! If they had known where they were on the mountain, there were two warming shacks with heaters back up the hill just those 200 yards at Paradise lift base.

Anyway, thanks to the Search & Rescue folks for their efforts and well done to the 5 visitors that kept their wits and survived a night in the winter mountains without injury. Watch the video at the link for a really good view of my favorite ski resort and to hear the whole story.

A desk... made from LEGO

Here's the job my kid Noah really should pursue. He seems incapable of staying employed for more than a few weeks when he has an actual boss, so self-employment seems his only possibility for long term employment. His only other possibility seems would be to purchase a flavored ice machine and shack to set on a grocery store parking lot corner. But maybe he could do this- he used to love to build LEGO stuff...

- Approximately 35,000 LEGO bricks were used. This includes almost all the pieces from 32 Blue Tubs (#3033), almost 300 (!) small baseplates (8x16 studs), and 63 blue plate packs from LEGO Shop-at-Home. A few other pieces were also bought from private collectors (226 tiles so the drawers could slide, et cetera).
- The desk weighs about 120 pounds, I think.
- The desk has the following dimensions (inches, WxHxD): 60" x 29.5" x 30".
- It has 7 working drawers (six small, one large).
- Yes, the top is bumpy -- studs up. I offered to make the top smooth, but the client specifically requested otherwise.
- Yes, I was paid to build the desk. Don't ask how much. It was worth my time.

Where do people get the ideas that lead to this stuff?

A lot of money to spend on your nasty bits...

For those of you that might not mosey over to Possumblog routinely, you should check out this post from yesterday. Terry is predicting new major sponsors for the upcoming NASCAR season!

Dang! A cubicle partner-

This may have an affect on my blogging and blog reading during wortk hours... Grr! I've had this 2 person, with a view, back of the building cubicle to myself for a few months now, ever since Matt moved out. Yesterday the phones finally got switched over and the new AF Captain moved in on the other side of the table from me.

First impressions are that he's competant and probably pretty smart but suspect he is also a hardliner about rules and regulations. He also works directly for my boss. His presence may just have a detrimental affect on the amount of time I can spend online.

Another nice weekend-

Sometimes its just really nice to have a weekend without too many tasks and requirements. This weekend was one of those for me. Its been wonderful.

Friday night was a movie date with the spouse, a creepy, suspense drama, Notes on a Scandal. We both really enjoyed this story and if you like drama films, this one is a dandy.

Saturday I got to stay home most of the day except for a few errands for myself. I spent most of the afternoon working on the Suzuki and by supper time it was running! It didn't start up immediately when I hit the button but it didn't smoke any of the wires that had been disconnected over the past few weeks either. I figure that's a success story in itself! Anyway, with some old fuel drained out of the float bowls and a little starter fluid, it was running!

I do still have to take the fuel tank off and drain it to remove some floaties inside that appear to be a previously installed rust prevention coating that is failing and coming loose inside the tank.

Today it was a glorious day for skiing in the mountains and that's what I did with son Kye. It was warm and sunny and the snow, even though its only half as deep as it should be, was soft and fast. Kye took me out through the trees this afternoon and I followed him all day even though I don't normally venture into the trees. But we had a great time on a wonderful winter afternoon.

Supper tonight was sandwiches at Village Inn, kind of early and then back home. I talked to Mom for quite a while, she's doing great and well recovered from her heart surgery. She is getting cardio rehab 3 days per week and walking the outdoor track around the local hockey rink 3 more days each week. Mom's walking 2 miles in 40 minutes each time she goes to the track and feeling very good. She is driving and resuming most of her usual activities around the house. She really sounds very good compared to how sick she was back in October and November.

I also talked to Dad tonight for so long that I worried about my cell phone's battery dieing! It didn't and we had a great chat about everything and nothing at all. Dad's active in his church and serving as a Trustee and what a challenge it is! I'm glad he's able to manage all the folks wanting things done just their way and all the meetings that are required.

Finally tonight I was able to spend at least an hour practicing on my guitar. I can just almost scratch out a song using 2 strings and 6 notes. I still have trouble keeping track of which notes I'm supposed to be playing but my efforts are beginning to sound like a little something.

Now its time for bed and snuggling my Sweetie!

Caffeine spiked donuts- yeah!

Soon perhaps your local constabulary (and you too) will be able to get hopped up on caffeine and a sugar buzz without the danger of a painful burn when the coffee spills pulling out of the drive-up window. It seems that someone has developed the caffeine spiked donut! This dandy new invention does away with the bitter caffeine taste and gives you a glazed donut sugar rush all the same time. The inventor claims that a single donut has the caffeine boost of 2 cups of coffee, so a donut and a coffee = 3 cups of coffee!

Hurry these things to market won't you please? Imagine catching a 3 cup buzz without the bladder busting need to drain off all that coffee... What a great idea!

Bwahahah!

No, really, this is too funny! I can't vouch for its veracity but it sure looks like a shot from a television to me! You must see this picture!

If anybody ever tells you that being "close" with their spelling is good enough, show them this picture...

Would it be bad-

if I just wanted to go home and play with my new guitar? I really am distracted by the desire to go home and make some sounds with that thing.

Friend Kenny at Coffee in the Morning and his spousal unit called in apathetic this morning so he could go buy lottery tickets. Can't I skip a day of work to play with my new toy?

I got my birthday present tonight!

Ok, its a few days early for my birthday but I got my present tonight and I am so thrilled. I said for my New Years resolution that this year I wanted to learn to make music and now, I have the tool to do so! It is an Ibanez Artcore, hollow body, electric guitar. Click the "enlarge" button to see the transparent blue sunburst model, that's the one now taking up residence in my family room.

I really like this thing! I bought a Marshall amplifier, some picks and an instruction book to go with my new toy. Tomorrow I make the phone calls to find a live instructor.

Tonight I spent an hour playing with this shiny guitar and my laptop and the DVD of instruction. The guitar sounds great but I have got lots to learn! Because its a hollow body it can be played unplugged just fine and I did that most of the time tonight. I did have to plug in in for a few minutes just to hear what it sounded like and it sounds just fine.

Later I'll take a picture or two but for tonight you will just have to be content with the Guitar Center link pictures. And I'm on my way towards being creative! Lest anyone despair, I'm not giving up on becoming a dulcimer player, I'm just branching into a new direction with the expectation that the skills I learn from guitar lessons will carry over to my laptop instrument!

Suzuki update

I've been making some progress on the motorcycle as often as I can stand to heat up the shop in the evenings. With the help of Bike Bandit I've been buying the parts I've needed. Bike Bandit has been really helpful with lots of new old stock bushings and rubber parts and I really like the quick processing and shipping. The company is in California and I'm getting parts delivered by the least expensive method in just 4 days.

I've installed new handlebars with more pullback so I won't have to lean forward quite so far and a new clutch cable and new control levers. I've rebuilt the fuel petcock and all 4 inlet manifolds.




I've also been trying to figure out a decent method of mounting the exhaust muffler. The last owner had simply welded the muffler's mount tab to the frame and after getting that freed up and the frame repainted, I've been struggling with finding a mounting method. I looked at wrap around clamps and I considered bolting or welding a plate to the frame extension, neither of which seemed like a good idea.

Today I figured out a simple, flat bracket that bolts to the frame with 2 existing bolt holes and secures the muffler with one bolt and a spacer. It took less than an hour to make it, including the trip to Home Depot to buy the steel! I've painted it so it will be ready for installation the next time I get out to the shop. I have no idea why it took me so long to figure out this simple and effective mount.

Next, figuring out where the fuel level sending wires are in the wire harness!

Where I spent my Saturday-

Powder Mountain Ski Resort.

It was a better picture early in the morning before the clouds and snow blew in...

In spite of the slightly less than perfect visibility, it was a great day. Kye went along and snowboarded until he was tired. There was homemade potato soup back at the house when we got home. Yumm!

There may be a mouse in the house-

Apparently, its all my fault...

Uintah Cat drug dragged in a mouse a couple nights ago, in the middle of the night. Why he was out hunting during single digit temperatures instead of warming the foot of my bed, I'll never understand. The spouse awoke as a result of the cat's usual growling that he does when he's captured something and that required me to get out of bed to see what I could do about the situation.

Well, the cat was having a pretty dandy time playing with the mouse in the family room where it was warm and they had a rousing game of tag going on around the library table. Finally the mouse escaped behind the bookcase that holds my toy cars, the cat was stymied and I got to go back to bed.

The next day, while I was at work, the spouse claimed that both of the cats and the dog were involved in a 2nd chase around the family room! She didn't look for any carcasses and I didn't find any when I got home so the presumption was that the mouse had escaped.

Why is all this tale (tail?) my fault? Why, that's easy. I put the birdseed in the birdfeeder in the backyard! Sure. The birds spill their food onto the ground and the neighborhood mice come around to cleanup the jackpot of spilled seed. Then the cat, who already knows about the feeder as an attraction for the feathered targets, catches the far easier, furred mouse targets and brings them in to play with because its cold outside this week!

So the mouse in the house is my fault because I feed the birds in my backyard!

"They call it an inner monologue for a reason"

You have got to go read this!

Say, “With the right outfit, she’d make a great garden gnome.” Wait for a response. None will come. Describe the pointy knit cap you saw at T.J. Maxx, the one that would work perfectly. Sell the package, really sell it: “I could have her knee-deep in your petunias in five and a half hours, just say the word.”

Strain to hear what your mother is muttering under her breath. It sounds like, “They call it an inner monologue for a reason,” but you can’t be sure. When your mother hangs up, put down the phone and stare down at the sullen face of your three-year-old daughter.

Your're going to have to read the whole thing. What a piece of writing!

The 5 Toughest Questions for Men

[NOTE: this came to me by friend Kenny and since he didn't post it, I thought I would.]

1. What are you thinking about?
2. Do you love me?
3. Do I look fat?
4. Do you think she is prettier than me?
5. What would you do if I died?

What makes these questions so difficult is that each one is guaranteed to explode into a major argument if the man answers incorrectly (i.e. tells the truth). Therefore, as a public service, each question is analyzed below, along with possible responses.

Question # 1: What are you thinking about?

The proper answer to this, of course, is: "I'm sorry if I've been pensive, dear. I was just reflecting on what a warm, wonderful, thoughtful, caring, intelligent woman you are, and how lucky I am to have met you."

This response obviously bears no resemblance to the true answer, which most likely is one of the following:

a. Baseball.
b. Football.
c. How fat you are.
d. How much prettier she is than you.
e. How I would spend the insurance money if you died.

(Perhaps the best response to this question was offered by Al Bundy, who once told Peg, "If I wanted you to know what I was thinking, I would be talking to you!")

Question # 2: Do you love me?

The proper response is: "YES!" or, if you feel a more detailed answer is in order, "Yes, dear."

Inappropriate responses include:

a. Oh Yeah, loads.
b. Would it make you feel better if I said yes?
c. That depends on what you mean by love.
d. Does it matter?
e. Who, me?

Question # 3: Do I look fat?

The correct answer is an emphatic: "Of course not!"

Among the incorrect answers are:

a. Compared to what?
b. I wouldn't call you fat, but you're not exactly thin.
c. A little extra weight looks good on you.
d. I've seen fatter.
e. Could you repeat the question? I was just thinking about how I would spend the insurance money if you died.

Question # 4: Do you think she's prettier than me?

Once again, the proper response is always: "Of course not!"

Incorrect responses include:

a. Yes, but you have a better personality.
b. Not prettier, but definitely thinner.
c. Not as pretty as you when you were her age.
d. Define pretty..
e. Could you repeat the question? I was just thinking about how I would spend the insurance money if you died.

Question# 5: What would you do if I died?

A definite no-win question.

(The real answer, of course, is "Buy a Corvette!") Or guns of course, or maybe a place in the country where I could shoot my guns with my friends.

Motion Filed to hold New Orleans mayor in contempt

I love seeing articles like this from Of Arms and the Law.

BELLEVUE, WA – Frustrated by repeated failures to meet court-appointed deadlines, and a pattern of disregard by the City of New Orleans, the Second Amendment Foundation has filed a motion to hold Mayor Ray Nagin and Police Superintendent Warren Riley in contempt of federal court.

“Mayor Nagin, Chief Riley and the city’s attorney have repeatedly failed to communicate with our legal counsel, even for the most trivial of matters related to this lawsuit,” said SAF founder Alan Gottlieb. “We were prepared to file this motion months ago, but gave the city several opportunities to comply with the court, and to begin returning seized firearms to their rightful owners. They haven’t done it.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Ray Nagin is a jackass. That the citizens of NO are so naive to continually re-elect him after his demonstrated inability to lead or administer is a sad state of affairs. Its a damm shame that these lawsuits to return these firearms to the citizens are being brought by agencies outside of New Orleans instead of by the affected people of that city.

Make sure to read the whole thing.

Building a better cosmoline cooker-

Anybody that's ever been around military surplus firearms, fresh from the crate, knows that they are packed, soaked, filled and drizzled with an icky preservative known as cosmoline. Now cosmoline is really good stuff for preserving guns from evil corrosion and it sticks nice and tight to wood and metal alike and it penetrates into every little nook and cranny of whatever it is applied to.

Which means it is a real pain in the patoot to remove the same good stuff when its time to get the gun out and go shooting. Cleaning cosmoline from firearms is much more complicated than just wiping down the stock and running a bore brush and a couple patches through the barrel. This stuff takes scrubbing!

There's a grundle of ways espoused by every mil-surp owner and peddler to remove the cosmoline before the fun of shooting can take place. Most of them involve expensive and/or hazardous chemicals, some of them require strong detergents and hot water and many of them promote heating up the parts and getting the sticky, waxy stuff to soften and melt and run off into a pan.

As you might guess, heating up these sticky gun parts in the kitchen range is usually frowned upon by the typical spousal unit...

Bruce, over at mASS BACKWARDS, having finally escaped the evil clutches of Ted Kennedy's homeland for the freedom of New Hampshire, just went out and bought himself a freshly uncrated SKS rifle from the weekend gun show. And now he has built himself a cosmoline removal cooker of his very own design. Right now he's calling it the "grease gauntlet" though he is shopping for a better name for his invention.

He's been so busy building that I don't think he has actually has put it into work yet but the goal is for the all the gun parts to get warm enough, long enough to melt off the icky preservative and let it run out the drain holes.

Its a creative design and I hope it works. Bruce might have come up with a dandy solution to a sticky problem. Updates will follow as he gets further along.

And, Bruce- skip worrying about the wood and just buy the Tapco collapsible stock. I love my Tapco stock and just wish I had the ACU colored model instead of the tan version.

Bigamy isn't ok?

Since when? This is Utah after all... Anyway, here is a fine example of a Utah dumbass who thought the way into a 16 year old girl's panties was to promise her a "spiritual marriage."

This report leaves out most of the good parts of the story that I found in yesterday's Standard-Exaggerator newspaper but could not find online. First of all, Roskelley was caught with the girl "in a sexual situation" in the back of his pickup truck where he was apparently trying to consumate his spiritual marriage. The girl's family later received a restraining order to keep him away from her, which he has repeatedly tried to violate using email, the Postal Service and other accomplices to contact the girl.

Roskelly is also facing charges of vehicle theft so maybe the pickup truck he was using as a celestial bedroom wasn't even his and that's not mentioned in this story. Finally, according to yesterday's article, the dumbass is denying that he made any spiritual marriage promises to this 16 year old girl, so imagine her feeling of loss. Not only did she get sexually involved with a man promising a spiritual, eternal connection, now she is high and dry and he is denying the love he promised to her. That's got to leave a mark!

One long weekend- 2 movies

I've had 3 days off from work and its been too cold to ski. I've also not been able to shake the head cold from hell so skiing just wasn't in my schedule, no matter how much I might have wanted to. It has been cold here this weekend, no more than 20 degrees here in the valley when the sun's shining and much closer to 0 degrees at night.

Instead the BSU and I saw a couple movies. Friday night it was Dreamgirls, which has already tonight won 2 Golden Globe awards. I hope it wins more before the night's over because it really is a dynamite movie. It is a period piece from the 60s through the 80s, loosely based on Diana Ross and the Supremes, with all the stylish hair and dresses and dance steps that the Supremes made so popular during their reign. If you liked Ray or Walk the Line then you might like Dreamgirls for the same fun of a period piece full of great music and drama.

Tonight we went to see The Pursuit of Happyness with Will Smith. It is a touching story, apparently mostly true, about a single dad struggling through homelessness while working his unpaid way through an internship with a big stock trading firm. The story takes place in San Francisco and the 1980s, so it has a gritty quality in the filming but overall all, its a great movie. It even made the BSU tear up a little bit. Will Smith does a dandy job and the 2nd character, his son, is really his son, so the chemistry between them is obvious and fun.

So that's it for my weekend, 2 good movies that I would recommend for everyone. Except for a bit of putzing on the motorcycle that's about all I've done.

I have got to shake out this head cold!

More memory is a good thing!

That's right, I bought a new, 1gig stick of memory for my laptop on Friday and installed it Saturday. Now, instead of 512mb, I have 1.2gb of RAM. This is a very good thing! My laptop is very happy with this upgrade.

I'd been shopping for more memory for a few weeks and it seemed that just about everywhere it was $130 to $145. I happened into Staples on Friday. There it was $130 but they had a $30 rebate attached!

So I bought it. Call it an anniversary present to Wasted Electrons I suppose. And another day- I think I'll buy a matching stick and have 2gig on my 'puter!

Its January 14th- do you know what that means?

It means I have been burning up electrons on this humble blog for 4 years now. Who woulda thunk it? The BSU remains convinced that it is the single biggest time-waster in my life. It might just be, but I still like it.

I don't have anything significant to say about this blogversary except that it remains a fun outlet for me. I've met lots of interesting people because of WE and many of them I call my friends, even if I haven't yet had the privilege of meeting them in the flesh. To all of you, thanks for sharing you lives and loves with me.

If you've come around here for any length of time you've heard about 3 years of going to school nights and doing homework on weekends, trips to the desert for shooting, medical emergencies related to my spouse and most recently my Mom, who is recovering very nicely, my kid's adventures in growing into adulthood no matter how painful and occasionally my personal insights into the world around me, most usually, closely around me, here behind the Zion Curtain. Brother Tim took me to task recently for not sharing more of my opinion about the dumbasses that poplulate the world, so I suppose its time I fire up the invective machine and share some of the exploits of lesser known dumbasses with the rest of the world. I'll work on that. Oh look, here's one dumbass that stole a Nobel Peace Prize medal! See how easy that was?

Anyway, its a beautiful winter afternoon here in Utah and I should be skiing. Except that the head cold I've had for weeks refuses to go away and it is sapping my energy. I'm trying to take it easy this weekend and rest so that maybe I can finally beat this drippy nose and horrible cough into submission. Next weekend- I'll be skiing and working on Saturday and maybe I'll feel good enough to go to the gun show on Sunday.

My butt is dragging today...

As is often the case about this time of the week, I'm just about wore out. I stay up too late and get up too early all week long and by this time of the week and day, I'm ready for a nap.

Which is really frowned upon here on the job... Not to mention the bad case of qwertyitis that I get when if I do happen to nod off. So, I'm struggling a bit this afternoon.

Work is back to full spead ahead after the holiday break, everybody wants something and they want it now, because they didn't ask for it last week. Typical. The saga of the lost kit continues but I might be getting closer to finding the needed parts. I just need one guy to answer his phone and go look in a box for me. If I solve this dilemma without spending any money, it will be a minor miracle. I have actually solved a number of nagging problems for several programs this week so I have been pretty productive.

In another minor miracle, the BSU and I were successful in copying embroidery files from the computer onto the magic, Husqvarna disc and into the sewing machine last night! It took a couple trips to talk to an expert but we were successful. I've discovered that Husqvarna's new USB Reader/Writer will not read the identical cards that could be loaded and unloaded using the old, parallel Reader/Writer. It would just be silly to make proprietary equipment backwards compatible now, wouldn't it? [/snark]

The coat that I've been wearing for the past 2 winters was really the nylon shelled liner for a cheap ski coat that I bought because I wanted the inner jacket. Last Saturday, while working at the ski resort, the zipper on the liner exploded leaving me with no everyday jacket and no ski coat liner... Rats! I know it was ugly but it worked. Yesterday I bought a fleece zippered jacket to be my new liner for the ski coat, from Ross. I also ordered a Duluth Traders Fire Hose fabric work Jacket for my winter wear.

So, you see, I'm not really being lazy, I'm just not stopping to post much.

A Radio Control airplane that makes you wonder

It makes you wonder how many hours it took to build, and how many dollars it cost to build and where, exactly do you store it when its not being flown. This "miniature" B52 is amazing!

Its a long download, but worth it if you like airplanes both large and small.

I wonder if its also got s functioning bomb bay...

Three Airmen from Hill AFB killed in Baghdad

This is very sad news tonight, 3 airman from Hill AFB were killed Sunday in Baghdad, killed by a vehicle loaded with explosives. The Explosive Ordinance Disposal Team members were:

Tech Sergeant Timothy R. Weiner, 35, of Tamarack, Florida., Senior Airman Elizabeth A. Loncki, 23, of New Castle, Delaware, and Senior Airman Daniel B. Miller Juniorr., 24, of Galesburg, Illinois.

There have been so many of our military members killed in Iraq, each one hurts my heart. These 3, killed in action, were the first from my home base, here at Hill and their loss makes my heart very sad.

My template seems to be tanked

I'd ask Carol for some coding help but I know she's not in the mood right now...

Somehow my little rotating caffeine molecule in the header has replicated itself. The second molecule just barely appears at the bottom of the banner, but it is there.

Here's the weird part, I copied my template code into MS Word and ran a word search for the molecule's file name. It only shows up one time! That doesn't make any sense. If the file is only listed once in the template, how does the molecule show up twice?

UPDATE:
Its a mystery fixed!. Thanks Curt! Stupid Blogger and its fancy-dancy input boxes had me looking in the wrong place for the duplicate coding. But Curt's direction got me looking even deeper and I fixed the duplication.

Blogging updates

I'm continuing to make some small changes to the look here at WE and most of them are just corrections to folks links. So pay attention because things might not be the same as they always looked.

I fixed the name to Kenny's Coffee in the Morning since he switched back to his original title when he started back again a few months ago.

Sailor Curt is back to blogging after a short hiatus and he's a guy I need to find an excuse for a trip back to east to meet.

Friend Karen has a new blog, Passions of My Heart where she is exploring the softer and more artistic part of her life. She really is creating some wonderful poetry and photography, so I hope you'll check out her passions.

Sarge moved off of Blogger and over to WordPress months ago but I've been to busy lazy to update my blog. So, I'm doing it right now. Make sure to say hey to another retired AF MSgt over at Sarge Says

Prosecute Bloomberg!

SailorCurt sent me this link and a request to spread this story as widely as possible. Which I will gladly do. I've actually been paying some attention to this story of the mayor of New York City hiring investigators to make proxy firearms sales throughout the east coast, trying to prove that the guns in his city are being brought there illegally.

Well, I'm with Kurt and the Virginia Citizens Defense League, I think the mayor should be protested and arrested for his surely illegal efforts. I can't make the rally in DC, but I'll be there in spirit!

Want to know more details about mayor Bloomberg's probably illegal investigation? Read about it here. This is pretty interesting reading on mayor Bloomberg's efforts in his elected city.

And Curt, I'm fixing my blogroll- today!

I'm not at work today-

and I'm not skiing, as I should be, since there's a foot or more of new powder snow on the mountain.

I'm also not having as much fun as friend Carol who is off to sunny warm climes after finally getting through the ordeal of house building, buying and moving.

I am working on a resume to be completed before the day is over for possible government service, doing what I'm already doing as a contractor.

And, I'm still sick with a head cold I blame on Terry at Possumblog. This stupid head cold has stuck around ever since the weekend I spent on the couch with the flu before Christmas. I'm taking antihistamines, MucinexD right now and today, I almost feel ok. Yesterday was miserable with uncontrollable sneezing and barely controllable coughing.

So I'm not skiing until tomorrow. Today I'm staying inside and trying to rest a bit. And finishing the KSAs.

My shotgun is back in the locker

I mentioned in a previous post that I bought an inexpensive, (cheap) 12 gauge, over/under shotgun just a week ago. On its first jackrabbit hunting trip it killed one rabbit then turned itself into a single shot with a spare shell carrier in the top barrel.

Yesterday I took it back to the pawn shop where it came from and they graciously returned my money. I looked at a Charles Daly semi-automatic shotgun and offered a deal for it that had to be approved by the boss who wasn't in residence at the time. The boss did call me later in the afternoon and said he could do the deal I offered for the Daly and I promised to be in after work.

Which I did. In the mean time, the friendly proprietor had tinkered with the over/under gun, found a firing pin sticking and had it back in working order before I arrived. So I bought back the double barreled gun.

I did take it home and take it apart- no surprise there, right Kenny? All the metal parts of the action seemed to be in the right places and working freely so I just degreased it a bit then relubed everything with Break-Free and put it back together.

Now I just need to go shoot it and confirm that everything is good.

Shiny Things for the Thursday Three!

With the new year comes a new Thursday Three and today Terry's asking about new stuff, new activities, shiny things and old things that just can't be discarded. Here's the questions and my responses.

1) What new thing would you like to attempt in the New Year?

Well, as I wrote in my New Years post just down the page a ways, this year I want to explore some artistic avenues. I want to learn to make music with my dulcimer. The music doesn't have to be good enough to please anybody but me, but I'd like to be able to play some music that doesn't come from a shiny, spinning disc in a machine.

2) What one new thing do you really, REALLY need (not want, but truly need) to have?

Wow, this is a hard question! There's just not very much that I really need that I don't have already. I'm not too shy about buying something when I find a need for tools or toys so there just isn't much I need. Actually, (and some of you might think this is a want, not a need), I need a 45 caliber, semi-automatic pistol with the number 1911 engraved somewhere on its slide. I sold my Ruger P345 before Christmas and now I don't have a 45 caliber gun in my locker. A man needs a 45 and I've decided I must have one in the design that John Moses Browning sold to the US government nearly a century ago. I'm thinking that the newly introduced Taurus version of JMB's famous gun will make a fine addition to my locker and enhance my well being.

3) What grungy old ramshackle thing do you have that you should replace with something shiny and new but just can’t bring yourself to make the switch?

This month, January 2007 brings the 25 birthday of my brown wool helmet liner hat. The hat's actually older than that but I've happily owned and worn the hat for 25 years now. What's it look like? Remember Radar O'Reilly from the television show MASH? It’s the same hat that Radar wore probably every episode. The BSU hates it and I've pretty much relegated it to duty out in my shop or when I'm working at the ski resort. Its really not pretty and I have other hats that I wear out in public but I'm not getting rid of my brown wool hat.

So that's it, my Thursday Three. Play along here, in the comments or over at Possumblog, home of Terry and the Thursday Three.

A simple history update- what I've done this week

I've had a few days off from work and that's been really nice. Its been good to have a relaxed schedule for a little while. I haven't been too lazy though, I just haven't been thinking about program management very much.

I took the family out to dinner and a Utah Grizzlies hockey game one night and saw something I've never seen before. A fight broke out on the ice! That in itself isn't unusual or even remarkable, but this fight broke out before the first faceoff! That's right, before the game even began, two players squared off, dropped their gloves and helmets and went at each other like they were resolving an old feud. They each got their punches in and a 5 minute fighting penalty and the game went on to be a real thriller. The Grizzlies did manage a win over Las Vegas and even had two goals scored in the first three minutes of the game, then scored again while trying to burn down a 2 minute Las Vegas power play. That was an excellent night out.

On that same day I went with Kenny, his son-in-law, Shane and his dad, Roy, out to the desert for a few hours of stomping around chasing jackrabbits. We went south this time, a different direct direction than we usually go and although the number of bunnies killed was pretty low- 2, we had a great time.

I did have a disappointing equipment failure though, which I'll be rectifying tomorrow. Last week, on impulse I bought a 12 gauge, over/under shotgun- a very inexpensive, used one from a pawn shop. It worked great the first time, I shot a jackrabbit with my first try of the gun. And both barrels worked as they were supposed to with the single trigger- once! Before leaving for the day, Kenny wanted to try the gun but the trigger mechanism had failed and turned my two-barrelled gun into a single shot! The pawn shop's already offered to buy it back. Now I want another one...

Sunday was spent skiing at Powder Mountain. Noah was working his ticket checking job and Kye went along for snowboarding with Dad. Except he ditched Dad on the very first run of the day and I didn't see him again until the lifts closed! We all had a good day of slipping and sliding on the mountain though and the BSU had chili and cornbread waiting for us for dinner. The new Hidden Lake Express high-speed lift is a wonderful addition to Powder Mountain and really makes skiing Hidden Lake a pleasure. The ride up is now 7 minutes instead of 17 or 18, so you can see that you can spend much more time skiing than riding the creaky old chair that used to get you back to the top. The new lift is great!

Last night the BSU and I braved the crowds and went to see Charlotte's Web. We really needed a rent-a-kid to take along to see this movie but failing that we went just the two of us. What a fun movie! I know that its a kid's story and the movie makers played it completely straight to the story, there's no adult, inside jokes that kid's won't get like many movies. This one is just a simple, fun story about a little girl, her pet pig and a spider that can write words. The rat is hilarious. Take your kids, grandkids, somebody else's kids and go see it. You'll feel good afterwards.

In between all these festivities, I'm still sick with a head congestion that makes me cough too much of the time. I'm taking meds, some of them even work, but I'm still pretty lousy. I even had another of my passing out events the other night, over my chili bowl. One minute I was eating and chatting with everyone, then I had a cough fit and blacked out. I managed to keep my face out of my bowl but I scared the spouse and the boys pretty good.

And now- its time to order some motorcycle parts and then go pick up the BSU's sewing machine from the shop.

Happy New Year to all!

First of all, I have to say I'm just grateful to be posting this at all because I thought just a few minutes ago that this humble blog might never be repaired or recognizable again! That's what I get for tinkering with Blogger's newest improvements for template layout. It really looked for a minute that my template was really tanked and I'm happy to report that I was able to re-establish the classic look without too much panic.

I did think that I'd give the old blog some sprucing up for the new year but after that little episode, it might not change very much. Better to stick with what I (sorta) know instead of getting too carried away.

But, its a new year, and as is traditional, I have made some resolutions. First, I'm going to get more exercise. I may not go to the gym but I'm going to walk more and ride the stationary bike in the evenings and maybe even explore the new gym that just opened on base. Second, I'm going to explore some artistic avenues. I'm going to get my dulcimer out and learn to play it and even see if I can find someone to give me lessons. I might just take some guitar lessons too if the dulcimer goes well enough to justify trying new things.

I might learn to paint this year. I've no interest in painting landscapes or still lifes, I think I want to learn to pinstripe! We'll see about that. Somehow the idea of lying down stylish pinstripes on sheet metal has been calling me for a little while. Maybe its time to give it a try.

That's about it for my resolutions. I have some home and yard improvements to work on this year, now that I'm not using all my time in classes and homework. There's still the Avenger kit car in the driveway that needs either completed or sold and that motorcycle in the shop to finish up and spend some time riding when the weather warms again.

I don't suppose I'll run out of things to do...